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It’s no coincidence that activist Mary Dadone calls Coming to the Table meetings a “12-step program” for racial reconciliation. Jane Carrigan, a co-founder of the Annapolis chapter, has shared with the group her recollection of the white supervisor at her first summer job complaining about having...

Members of Christian, Jewish and Muslim congregations worked to find the “sweet spot” of their faiths’ shared values Sunday and then pledged to live out those values over the next month in honor of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The legacy of Dr. King, whose Jan. 15 birthday was...

The Rams spent the offseason adding pieces for a Super Bowl run. Trade for two star cornerbacks and a star receiver here. Sign a star defensive lineman there. Reinforce the roster during the season with a dangerous edge rusher and a veteran running back. They were the weapons Sean McVay and Jared...

Opinion

While the Democratic and Republican parties differ on many issues, there’s one thing that we should be able to agree on: People shouldn’t have to choose between paying bills and purchasing life-saving prescription medications. I have worked on health care issues for many years as a Capitol Hill...

President Donald Trump's decision to hold firm on his government shutdown to get Congress to bankroll his southern border wall makes a mockery of his reputation as a great deal-maker. All he has achieved is confirmation of his incompetence in governance. His ineptness in coping with House Speaker...

The border wall is now a MacGuffin, and that's the problem. A MacGuffin is a term of art in screenwriting. It's the thing the hero wants but the bad guys are trying to get, and therefore it drives the action of the story. In John Huston's "The Maltese Falcon," the Maltese Falcon is the MacGuffin....

One major focus for legislators during this year’s session is how to bring down the cost of health care, as everyday Marylanders struggle to afford the cost they pay at the pharmacy counter. Despite disagreements between different groups within and beyond health care, there is broad consensus that...

Business

It’s never easy to re-enter society upon being released from prison, and even ex-offenders lucky enough to secure a job right away face a challenge few may know about: It can take weeks for their first paycheck to arrive. In the interim, many face the temptation to chase “fast money” in the streets...

McCormick & Co. is changing its format for predicting flavor trends, announcing this week that it’s discontinuing its annual Flavor Forecast report in favor of an online series of podcasts and videos to be updated quarterly. The Hunt Valley spice maker has been publishing a report on flavor trends...

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan released his first budget of his second term Friday — a $46.6 billion proposal that would boost money for public education and give raises to all state employees. Here are five takeaways from the spending plan for the fiscal year that starts July 1: Democrats generally...

Saying it’s facing increasing competition, Weis Markets launched an aggressive price-cutting initiative and lowered prices on more than 7,000 products in every department. The Mid-Atlantic grocer, which operates 203 stores in Maryland and six other states, said its new “Low, Low Price” program...

Entertainment

Go ahead and cancel your bus tickets to New York. Two of the most acclaimed musicals of the past few years will anchor the France-Merrick Performing Arts Center’s 2019-2020 season, the venue’s president announced Thursday. “The Band’s Visit,” which in 2018 became one of just four musicals to capture...

What retirement? Ed Asner, who originated the character of Lou Grant in the beloved 1970s-era newspaper drama bearing his name and before that, in “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” — Ed Asner, who so memorably portrayed Santa Claus in the 2003 film “Elf” and whose voice starred in the 2009 Pixar animated...

Baltimore officials approved using $1.25 million Wednesday to help turn a dilapidated former movie theater on Pulaski Highway into a hub for the city’s immigrant community, a project its backers say will help revitalize a neighborhood that is increasingly attracting Latino families priced out of...

QueShawn Latimer, a Treasury Department employee from Millersville who is battling breast cancer, received a $5,000 grant from nationally syndicated talk show “The Real.” Latimer, who is affected by the federal government shutdown, is a mother of three children whose oldest son is deployed in the...

Lifestyle

It was a hot summer day in May 1827, and Johann Maelzel’s robot exhibition was not going well. Crowds had gathered inside Baltimore’s Fountain Inn on Light Street to see the star of the show, a European chess-playing robot (or “automaton,” in the language of the era) that had impressed the likes...

Readers: Think you know your Baltimore? Try answering our weekly trivia question. Some weeks will be ridiculously easy, some weeks a bit more challenging. Put your best guess in the “answer” field and hit “submit.” Or comment on Instagram: @retrobaltimore. If you’d like to be recognized for a correct...

The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra musicians’ four-month contract extension expired late Tuesday. On the surface, nothing much has changed. The players aren’t on strike and management hasn’t locked them out. The concerts scheduled for this weekend will be performed as planned in Baltimore and Bethesda,...

As kids, Isaac Carr and Israel Thomas grew up playing the same video game: Super Smash Bros. Melee on the Nintendo GameCube. To win, a player must knock his or her opponent off a virtual stage using kicks, jabs, jumps and other moves that the gamers dictate with nothing but their fingers. On a...

Sun Investigates

The Maryland General Assembly is back in full swing in Annapolis, and so are the lobbyists looking to educate lawmakers about their issues over lunch, dinner and, perhaps, wine. The Department of Legislative Services compiles a weekly “protocol calendar” of social events that lobbyists host for...

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. is remembered each year in January for giving his life while leading the charge to attain full civil rights for black Americans. But it’s also important to remember how King was perceived by the very power structure he hoped to reform — as a national security threat...

The Maryland Park Service is eliminating several dozen park-unique social media accounts, consolidating its messaging on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram into single accounts, much to the chagrin of parkgoers who like and want park-specific information. Word of the consolidation came on Twitter...